It’s only a wee beach but, with a bit of effort, we can make it work. [Moorea, French Polynesia]
Duncan McDonnell
@duncanmcdonnell.com
Professor of Politics at Griffith University (Flinders University from 1 September) | 🇮🇪🇦🇺 | populism and party youth wings | https://duncanmcdonnell.com/
Still amazing to see this final product of a long and testing process. Thanks again to @duncanmcdonnell.com & @ammassarisofia.bsky.social for saving this project and turning all our work into a great book. 🙏 If you are interested in discussing the interesting findings, interview Duncan & Sofia!
Very proud supervisor moment:
It is out in the world! 🎉 'The online transnationalisation of populist radical right publics' is published open access in the @ejprjournal.bsky.social. In this, I ask: which factors explain transnational online engagement with PRR communications?🧵 [1/7]
Been seven years since I first read this, on the English language's *completely universal but totally invisible* adjective hierarchy, and I can honestly say I've thought about it most days since.
I’ll be discussing our new book “Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right” while on fieldwork in Europe later this year: 8/9: ECPR 🇵🇱 24/9: Bergen 🇳🇴 29/9: Oslo 🇳🇴 1/10: Sussex 🇬🇧 7/10: QMUL 🇬🇧 There’s room for 1 or 2 more, especially in England. If anyone is keen to host one, do get in touch!
Do youth wings produce the party members parties want? Niklas Bolin et al examine 5,000+ members, showing active participation matters more than time served. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/Mphqpok @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci #PoliticalParties
The added value of youth wings: Do they nurture the members their parties want? - Niklas Bolin, Duncan McDonnell, Sofia Ammassari, Annika Werner, Marco Valbruzzi, Reinhard Heinisch, Ann-Cathrine Jungar, Carsten Wegscheider, 2026
Political parties expect youth wings to recruit and socialize young people into the norms and values of the party, nurturing aligned future grassroots members, ...
doi.org
Our article “The Inverted Hierarchy: How Public Bias Can Favor Potential Indigenous Candidates” has been published in the ‘Countering Inequality’ special section of the latest issue of @poppublicsphere.bsky.social. 🎉 See the earlier thread from Josh below about what we did & what we think it means.
🎉 New publication out in @poppublicsphere.bsky.social with @duncanmcdonnell.com and Michelle Evans! We expected public bias to work against aspiring Indigenous political candidates in Australia. Instead, we found the opposite - an 'inverted hierarchy' of bias. Open access: doi.org/10.1017/S153...
¡¡VOLUME 24, ISSUE 2 IS NOW OUT!! shorturl.at/AtRFj shorturl.at/jblyl Incl. work by @jennifermwelsh.bsky.social, @rbkhoury.bsky.social, @aasiegel.bsky.social, @emilykmscott.bsky.social, @mironovavera.bsky.social, @emamet.bsky.social, @jholloway.bsky.social, @duncanmcdonnell.com...
I made a small visualisation of the birthplace and nation represented of players at the World Cup. Stunning 96(!) players born in France. You can play with it here: claude.ai/public/artif...
Coming up later today...my third conference presentation since Tuesday. I'll be talking about our YOUMEM project survey of over 5,000 youth wing members in 6 countries and how other researchers can use the dataset which we've made public and free to use.
Happy to be at #EPSS2026 in Belfast today. I'm chairing panel PP03 — four papers on youth wings as recruitment grounds and early arenas where patterns of political representation take shape. Drop by if you're around! 🕞 15:20–17:00 · Meeting Room 3a (ICC).
🥁 Exciting news: on 1 September I’ll start a new job as a Senior Lecturer at @flindersuniversity.bsky.social in Adelaide! I’ll be in good company: @duncanmcdonnell.com will be joining the same day as a Matthew Flinders Professor. In early 2027, @fravittonetto.bsky.social will begin as a post doc.
What a great hire for @flindersuniversity.bsky.social , which directly makes itself the Australian knowledge hub on the global far right. Congratulations Sofia (and Duncan)!
🥁 Exciting news: on 1 September I’ll start a new job as a Senior Lecturer at @flindersuniversity.bsky.social in Adelaide! I’ll be in good company: @duncanmcdonnell.com will be joining the same day as a Matthew Flinders Professor. In early 2027, @fravittonetto.bsky.social will begin as a post doc.
Big news day for us. @ammassarisofia.bsky.social has already done the serious posts about our move to Flinders on Bluesky and LinkedIn. We're not on X anymore, but apparently they've been going wild over there about one of the major moves of this year's Australian academic transfer season:
🥁 Exciting news: on 1 September I’ll start a new job as a Senior Lecturer at @flindersuniversity.bsky.social in Adelaide! I’ll be in good company: @duncanmcdonnell.com will be joining the same day as a Matthew Flinders Professor. In early 2027, @fravittonetto.bsky.social will begin as a post doc.
After publishing "Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right" yesterday, today we talked about it at the CES conference, with @dafnoukos.bsky.social & @pinheiromachado.bsky.social. Hopefully, some of our engaged audience will now read the book (which you can do here: academic.oup.com/book/62992)
Do youth wings produce the party members parties want? Niklas Bolin et al examine 5,000+ members, showing active participation matters more than time served. Read OPEN ACCESS: buff.ly/Mphqpok @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci #PoliticalParties
New book by @duncanmcdonnell.com, @ammassarisofia.bsky.social, Ann-Cathrine Jungar, @casmudde.bsky.social and C-REX director @arjupskas.bsky.social on a topic we knew surprisingly little about: Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right (OUP, 2026). academic.oup.com/book/62992
Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right
Abstract. Many of today’s populist radical right (PRR) leaders in Europe came through their party’s youth wings. Yet, we know little about these organizati
academic.oup.com
The new arrival was duly toasted early yesterday evening in Dublin. "Youth wings of the populist radical right", online now with OUP: academic.oup.com/book/62992
I can truly say, “finally.” This has been a loooong journey, which would not have come to a successful ending without Duncan. I am very proud of this book, which shows that innovative and original research on (far-right) parties is possible and important. We need much more of it.
📘 Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right is out today online with Oxford University Press! A wee thread about our new-born book 🧵 academic.oup.com/book/62992
🎉 Publication Day! 🥳 And this one feels special: after many years of wondering about, studying, and learning from #PartyYouthWings, my comparative study on German PYWs is now out in @epsrjournal.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1017/S175... 🔓 #OpenAccess @ecpr.bsky.social
📘 Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right is out today online with Oxford University Press! A wee thread about our new-born book 🧵 academic.oup.com/book/62992
Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right
Abstract. Many of today’s populist radical right (PRR) leaders in Europe came through their party’s youth wings. Yet, we know little about these organizati
academic.oup.com
Quick break from ECPG to say that "Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right" is now out 🥳 We hope that this book (& mine) can pave the way for more research on the 'inside' of PRR parties. Understanding how they organise & mobilise is crucial to explaining their growing popularity & legitimacy.
📘 Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right is out today online with Oxford University Press! A wee thread about our new-born book 🧵 academic.oup.com/book/62992
📘 Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right is out today online with Oxford University Press! A wee thread about our new-born book 🧵 academic.oup.com/book/62992
Youth Wings of the Populist Radical Right
Abstract. Many of today’s populist radical right (PRR) leaders in Europe came through their party’s youth wings. Yet, we know little about these organizati
academic.oup.com
Holy shit, these people have no idea: The people launching the pogroms against immigrants in Belfast are loyalists, i.e. loyal to the British crown. They hate the concept of being Irish.
Kilmeade to an agreeing Markwayne Mullin: "In Belfast they're standing up because their leaders have let them down. They're trying to take their country back. They want to label them as racist. All they want to be is Irish. They want Ireland back. I see a lot of the same fights here."
All set for the 32 hour trip to do 3 presentations in Ireland. On Tuesday (16/6) at @ces-europe.bsky.social: @casmudde.bsky.social & I present "Youth wings of the populist radical right" (which comes out on Monday!). @dafnoukos.bsky.social will discuss, with @pinheiromachado.bsky.social chairing
A momentous week. 🥂 Monday: published an article in @polstudies.bsky.social Wednesday: published one in @politicsgenderj.bsky.social Friday: After 12 years, I resigned from Griffith. @ammassarisofia.bsky.social & I will join another university on 1 September. More about that next week 😉
Another YOUMEM article published - the 2nd this week and the 7th in total from the project! In this one, led by @ammassarisofia.bsky.social, we look at women & men's perceptions of having acquired efficacy and greater political ambitions. The article is online & open access in Politics & Gender.
Our study on gender differences in feelings of political efficacy and ambition among youth wing members is now out, open access, with @politicsgenderj.bsky.social ✨ www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Article no. 6 from the YOUMEM project now out! In this one, led by Niklas, we look at the 'added value' of youth wings in terms of shaping the young members that parties say they want.
🚨New article out 🚨 In @polstudies.bsky.social, we explore whether youth wings nurture the members parties want, using data from 5,000+ youth wing members in six European countries. Youth wings appear to shape members, but not always in the ways parties might expect.
In today’s @aunz.theconversation.com, I write about how the rise of One Nation among women voters is part of a global far-right trend, rather than an Australian anomaly: theconversation.com/pauline-hans...
Pauline Hanson attracting women voters? It’s part of a global far-right trend
Riding high on new opinion polling, Pauline Hanson is one of the women leading the charge for the far-right all over the world.
theconversation.com
We've got a new paper out in the @ausjpolsci.bsky.social! We tracked the money behind minor parties and independents across electoral cycles. What we found confirms some key assumptions about political finance in Australia, but challenges others🧵